The Schiit Jotunheim Headphone Amplifier/DAC: The Full Nick Shabazz Review

[@TDRN1]

watches, knifes and uber expensive audio equipment, the holy trinity of wasted money. i love it

[@67168]

Knives

[@en510]

Thus is honestly a slightly above middle of the road for AMP and dacs, it's a rabbit hole you don't want to fall into

[@5cholzi]

At first I thought Z-Reviews had two uploads today :) Great to see audio reviews on your channel Nick

[@neonphoenix8951]

I thought the exact same thing, had to click on the channel to believe what i was seeing

[@Jakugen0]

I thought the same thing, but I clicked because a second review on the same object means some sort of revelation.

[@Cyclops1980]

Jotunheimen is in Norway and its where the frostgiants live :-)

[@Precogvision]

Wow Nick, bringing high-end audio to the channel! Can we expect some audiophile headphones/IEMs too?

[@AresWasTaken]

I’d recommend the Drop THX AAA 789 amp over this for solid state. Unless you don’t want to bother with a separate dac then the Joutenheim with the dac option is pretty good.

[@scottlivingston5816]

The turn on delay protects your phones and ears. Just leave the thing on all the time. Most of my favorite amps are class A (not single ended) and I enjoy the heat.

[@gluebben]

Well, this is timely. I literally just installed my Schiit Modi and Sys yesterday. The sound quality is greatly improved from what I was using before.

[@thecappy]

I haved mine for about as long. Nice big schiit on my desk. Could get the Modi and Magni schiit stack for about $200.

[@bani_niba]

Long term Modi/Magni stack user here. One of the best high-value audiophile brands.

[@alisuperhornet]

I usually don't give 2 Schiits about amps, but I think I need this Schiit

[@cantdecidemyusername9752]

This video has me amped up.

[@tomgarcia9200]

Oh yes, more audio equipment reviews, check out monoprice's collaborations with alex cavalli

[@YanDoroshenko]

I only listen to black metal, so I couldn't tell a difference between a $600 valve amp, a cellphone playing mp3 through its speaker and two freight trains with cattle passing by.

[@Ice_Berg]

Schiit really does have the most entertaining FAQ pages I have Ever read. It's not a very high bar, but they are still pretty great. I've considered getting a Magni/Modi stack ever since I got the (Mass)Drop HD6XXs a few years ago, but I worry my ears are probably too plebeian to make it worth upgrading from an $80 Creative SoundBlaster DAC/AMP I already have. I'm also not sure where on the curve of diminishing returns I should limit myself if I only listen to music on Spotify. On an unrelated note, your wife helping you blind test headphone amps is the sweetest most "#relationshipgoals" thing I've ever seen. You're very lucky.

[@loganbabcock6179]

I gotta be honest, I've found that I'm more of a vinyl guy and the combo of the Schiit Vali and Mani really perform well with IEM's that are more budget oriented, and I like the tube rolling aspect where if you change the tube, the sound changes. But you're a digital guy, and because you're not me, I have to tell you that you're wrong on everything you said for no reason.

[@mitch5662]

Would love to see more audio content from you!

[@j.w.9407]

Nice, audio equipment! Hope we see some high end headphones.

[@reaper117nobody7]

you know how he always says "do not get into watches" DO NOT GET INTO AUDIO!!! but for your AB comparison there is a lot of different factors headphones, source material of what your listening to. to name a few. also the reason schiit puts the power on the back is because they make price to performance gear it would cost them a bunch of money and make the unit larger to move it to the front and the makers have stated in order to save cost and also reduce electrical interference with the internals that it was better to just have the switch on the back or they would have to further increase the price of the unit, also the primary gain of balanced vs single ended is power delivery. yes it effects sound clarity, however balanced allows more power to headphones allowing you to use higher impedance headphones

[@flytdigforhelvede3961]

Please Nick, make a disassemble and maintenance of the Leatherman crater c33...

[@blade4trade80]

Hey Nick... more tech is a great thing. I also used to be a Sennheiser guy. I recently sold a 30 year old set of Sennheiser headphones for more than I paid for them. I guess vintage electronics is a collectible thing, I get it, but when it comes to sound reproduction the industry has made great strides in 30 years. I was all set to buy a new Sennheiser set of phones till my son who works at Guitar Center asked me to try his Beyerdynamic headphones, in my honest opinion, the best damn headphones I've ever heard, studio quality also and compared to Sennheiser price wise, about the same. Thanks for the amp review, I just felt like I wanted to "Tip the Nick" for a change???

[@p.r.parasztragu3690]

I'm so happy to see you post some audio related videos.I hope youtube statistics won't fade you away from the topic.Could you please tell me wich focusrite you compered this Schiit(pun intended) to? rn I'm running on a behringer U-phoria um2 with a pair of ath m40x and planning to pick up a focusrite.You da best Nick!

[@ObjectsInSpace]

Hey Nick what is your opinion on stand-alone amplifiers? I have a desktop PC I built recently with a fairly nice motherboard. The built-in DAC is supposed to be good. Much better than the low-end crap most MB builders add. Is there any advantage I would see to a separate DAC like this? You can get a good amp for a lot less than a combo Dac/Amp like this. I am willing to spend the money on a DAC/AMP combo, but I am not sure it's worth the extra cost?

[@slidetek]

LOL, I thought it was the wrong channel! Schiit makes some seriously good budget gear, right here in the people's republic of CA!

[@tonyflores2738]

Where's the disassembly video?

[@DarthVirtus]

Are we about to start seeing headphone and audio equipment reviews from an acoustician?

[@FarrYaweh]

Knew this day would come.

[@vladpetric7180]

"That woman puts up with a lot" ... Time to start an Audiophile Spouses Anonymous club.

[@arcadely]

Gordon Bennett: you really do have small hands.

[@jason12311000]

I have found schiit stuff to run a little hot. The massdrop 02 dac/amp is my preferred option

[@macgyverbryan1377]

THE CRKT Ripple is another comparison.

[@slick_slicers]

Looks good. I’m Scottish, so I have a Linn HiFi (obviously!), but I am vaguely looking for a half decent DAC to convert Sonos delivered music from a NAS. I don’t usually listen with HiFi headphones, preferring floor standing speakers for HiFi and Sennheiser Momentum Bluetooth headphones just for KZbin, so this would do everything I want, but maybe more than I need.

[@SeaGu4rd]

How do you connect it to your pc? Do you only use the dac port with a usb type b?

[@NickShabazz]

Yep

[@dylanemeraldgrey]

More audio reviews! (And audio anything really.) Pleasant surprise to to see you doing what I requested in an email a few years back (I know it has nothing to do with me of course). I don't want to sound sacrilegious, but knives have been pretty boring to me lately. Nothing has really caused a spark. Audio (and whatever else) could cause your subs to climb again - though I'm sure you don't care about that, numbers guy... JK... Anyway, good on ya, as they say down under... - Cheers

[@IlliniDog01]

Thankfully Audio quality is a hobby of mine, but my ears are not super picky for the most part. Anything that sounds better than decent and doesn't have a lot of static or distortion and I'm happy enough. Price and comfort are my main criteria. I've spent plenty of money on video quality instead. I'm sure if I had more money I would spend a bunch more on headphones as well.

[@daeholm]

I'm still not sure what this box does. I use headphones but have no silver box. Am I missing out?

[@reaper117nobody7]

it is a combination amplifier/digital audio converter. the short version is it takes the sound from a digital source and makes it so that it is "clean" (minimal interference) and then the amp part of it allows you to use higher quality headphones without a loss in volume, not all headphones need an amp, but generally the higher quality ones recommend one

[@Ripinda1911]

Most regular people should just get a modi and a magni 3+ or magni heresy. 1/3 of the price and you probably can't hear the difference.

[@67168]

If you're going to talk schiit at such lengths concerning the price perhaps you should have also discussed the differences of dacs available.

[@russellharris5072]

I have headphones but only as a convenience to save my neighbours from my taste in music or TV.I was talking to a guy last year who was looking for a new set of speakers,at the time I didn't realize I was talking to a hi fi nut who uses $3000 headphones.DOH!!!

[@Freddy-Da-Freeloadah]

"Critical Listening" is only really noticeable in the stuff you record your self. IMHO

[@xerotrace2251]

Great review! I have all Schiit components in my audio system and they sound great for a budget system but the budget system costs over $5k just for the Schiit components... Don’t get into HiFi ! ! !

[@s_bt_iwtf]

I thought you said you'd start with disassembly videos :^)

[@unknownriderinbound]

Am I the only one thinking of the shaving cream song?

[@manfredbaedke7599]

You complain about ergonomics? I own a Violectric headphone amplifier that has a pre gain switch, which is great. It is a dip switch placed inside the case. Yes, that's right.

[@WalterReade]

I've got the Schiit Magni amp and Modi dac. Best bang for the buck in the audio world, imo.

[@Rime0ne]

Yeeeeesssss!!! That's awesome. I follow several head fi reviewers so when I saw the thumbnail it was par for the course. But then I saw the name Nick Shabazz underneath. I thought my iPad was glitching or something. Then I clicked on it to my pleasant surprise. Dovetailing interests! Awesome.

[@Count_Smackula]

One Delica to measure them all! 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 (Apologies to JRRT)

[@sinjon]

Is it a gem, junk or piece of schiit?

[@JeskyKO]

Schiit is great. I have a few of their amps n switches

[@Yogisaurus]

fancy box to put some knives on :)

[@postalsteve]

Oh no! Nick is bringing in high-end audio? Isn't that like watches lol

[@loganbabcock6179]

He's talked about his job dealing with Resonances, so it only stands to reason he'd be an audiophile.

[@bobb.9917]

Nick, I prefer my Violectric V-800 DAC and my Violectric V-200 power Amp powering my Audeze LCD-1's! You need to step this area of your life up a bit........at least to watch level......😎😎😎

[@mikesatteson1534]

Probably your Jot takes awhile to start because you have a multibit DAC card. My guess it that the analog input or delta-sigma dac module would result in a much shorter time from switch on to sound available. Signal quality and packing lots of components into a somewhat standard chassis perhaps trumps the ergos in their designs. Everyone complains about having the switch in the back, but is does make sense from a cost, assembly and wiring standpoint. Keeping the output jack sand volume control away from the power supply may be helpful even it it crowds them, not genearlly an issue for me.

[@GamersInkInfo]

O wtf.... my two hobby worlds just collided... dude so messed up. I watch you for my other endless money pit hobby, BTW thanks Nick for getting me into Chris Reeves knives, jerk! I am broke now. JK love you ;)

[@timbober1]

Refreshing my ears are not as golden as they used to be.

[@stuartnsharpe]

What in the world are we even talking about? As a knife guy, this is all like a foreign language to me. Help!

[@Ephem13]

I have the Schiit pile...er stack as it's known.

[@humidozer]

I hope it´s not a piece of complete vouking schiit.

[@clintonlewis1261]

👍

[@MrWinger1951]

Thats the Schiit, and I have two excellent Schitts.

[@joej78]

Any decently measuring dac or amp with enough power will sound the same.

[@kiltymacbagpipe]

Did I click on the audiophiliac channel by mistake? Steve Is that you?

[@alwong604]

Does this go to 11? Sheeeet...

[@jayandgato3723]

I only watched this because I hoped Nick would scream SCHIIT JOTUNHEIM! in a German accent. Alas, I had to do that myself.

[@randomstuff6086]

Aw Schiit

[@ShearMeZ]

Oh no, nick, not audio. please don't become one of them

[@LoneRiderz]

If you're trying to hear a difference then you're missing the point. I find most audiophiles are hearing their equipment instead of listening to music.

[@Jakugen0]

Don't discourage them though. Their forums are amazing to read through. The amount of cope is unreal.

[@mathewa.4032]

It’s a piece of schiit! Don’t buy it.

[@jacknemo8021]

all current gen phones and many OTE headphones from good companies like Sennheiser, B&O, et al. have this built in or software emulated. quality is such now that the days of an external amp or DAC are past. This is the equivalent of an 8 track in the age of the MP3. This is dead tech even to audiophiles with high snobbery indexes.

[@reaper117nobody7]

very few companies have built in dac/amps in their headphones that are any good and DSP software correction is not the same as what a dac/amp does, and if you are referring to wireless headphones thats a whole different ballpark

[@reaper117nobody7]

very few companies have built in dac/amps in their headphones that are any good and DSP software correction is not the same as what a dac/amp does, and if you are referring to wireless headphones thats a whole different ballpark